In my mind, I had planned to do some fun and creative things this Christmas. Unfortunately, those dreams had to be shelved as the reality of the stress of teaching made it impossible for me to do anything else other than grade assignments and sleep and maybe eat some days. I don’t know if Mr. AD realized that I was completely strand out and so decided to surprise me with Christmas lunch at Hilton this year. In any event, whatever his reason, I am so grateful that I didn’t have to cook this Christmas. Thanks, hun!
The only Christmas idea to come to fruition was my dress, and even that end result hadn’t even been my original idea. I had envisioned some kind of fitted bodice with a circle skirt. But when the grading for my event planning class was strangely taking up more time than normal to complete, I needed a quick and easy project. That’s when I dug out my beloved Pixel Ink One Piece Kimono Tee Pattern.
When I first joined Burda last year, this was one of the first free patterns that I added to my library and I’m so glad I did. I first made something from this pattern this April for Mr. AD’s birthday – a burnt orange tunic that I love! I’ve already worn it as a dress, a tunic, and a top.
So I knew, with confidence, that I would love a dress made from this pattern. Introducing… the Teresa Maxi Dress, so named after my SJPP classmate, Teresa, who gave me the gorgeous teal jersey fabric from which it is made:
Do you see that beautiful tree behind me? All of that is my hunny’s decorative brilliance! He’s so awesome with this Christmas stuff. And yes, I don’t have on any shoes. My apologies, as we had just come in from lunch.
I really adore this amazing teal colour, which works so beautifully with my hot pink Obi-style belt! And of course, my super-cute purple and pink necklace! Come on, y’all know there was going to be some purple somewhere in this ensemble!
Truthfully, I don’t like any kind of hem finishes on jersey and I have found that this particular pattern looks just as nice without hems on the sleeves or bottom or without any binding for the neck. For both this dress and the tunic, I cut the size Large from the pattern, and it fits really well – not too tight or too loose in the bust area – which, of course, is one of my favourite characteristics of this pattern. I also made the neck wider and lower than the original pattern, because I felt that the crew neck just wouldn’t cut it in this maxi dress modification.
Enough styling for today. So how did you guys spend your Christmas? Did you get all of your projects done?
abbey dabbles 